The more time I spend here, the less I think I want a career abroad, especially in a developing country. I will explain why:
Working for the State Department!
Wow- what a romantic notion to a youngin fresh out of college.
However, the more time I spend with ex-pats and their families, the more I think it is not for me. A lot of ex-pats I have met are foreign service officers (FSOs), a position that requires a lot of training and knowledge…… but for what? To sit at a desk all day in the Embassy, which is technically part of America? I’m not saying their work isn’t important or valuable, sure it is. They have helped Finn and I a great deal and I am glad to have the Embassy folks on our side. However, just for me personally I wouldn’t want a job like this. Working at the Embassy is a full-time job, leaving seemingly little time for exploration of a region or a way to genuinely fraternize with the local people. Sure, you make good money, but for what? To throw parties for other white people, and to buy plane tickets home? (Then again, a lot of people work at home to buy plane tickets here….ahem.... like myself). If you work for the Embassy, your house is provided by the government and is SUPER secure, and you can import anything from the States- anything from Pantene to HoneyNut Cheerios to barbeque grills. So basically what a lot of people do is make a little tiny America for themselves. But who can blame them; they have the means and familiarity begets comfort. Who wouldn’t want to be comfortable where they live? Who really expects an FSO or USAID employee with a family to move into an unsafe house in an unsafe neighborhood with no other white people around? That could be suicide. So, of course, a lot of ex-pats clump together and form communities. Within these communities, it seems like the members create mini-Americas or white-people-associations through groups and dinners and things of the like- to create a comfortable, familiar environment of support. Which is……I must admit- awesome. Some of the most fun I have had here has been at dinner parties hosted by other ex-pats. But I feel a little weird about that.
During these get-togethers, you either talk about:
1) how backwards everything is where you are
2) things you miss about home
3) other countries you have been to and how this one compares
4) when the next get together will be, so you can do it all over again
….. or you just play softball or ultimate frisbee to just forget about it all.
I’ve never seen white people getting together after work hours to talk about Malawian issues, development issues, or social issues just for fun- maybe because it isn’t really fun to talk about these things for the people working at the Embassy or at an NGO. They probably talk about it at work all day! Don’t get me wrong, I have met plenty of people abroad who genuinely love what they do and are passionate about their work. However, there are plenty of people like that in the States, who get together at dinner parties and talk about trips they want to take….
Working for an NGO abroad!
Wow, what a romantic notion to a youngin fresh out of college.
But DAMN does it seem like a different ball game when you actually try to make it happen. I have heard so many stories of people and met many people who either come abroad to volunteer or to work for an NGO and it is either a complete scam or just completely different than they thought it would be. Just because it’s an NGO does NOT mean they are organized, legit, or have anything for you to do! And, even if they are organized, legit, and have something for you do it; that may just be sitting at an office all day- the thing that drives many people out of their job in the US in the first place. A lot of people want to work abroad so they can be “hands on”, or working “in the field” to distribute either the money or supplies that other people have helped gather. However, why do so many deem this as more desirable, more important? Sure, you need someone to actually do deliver mosquito nets. Absolutely. But, that person may not even have that job of carrying out that task if someone else didn’t find a way to secure the funding, actually receive the funding, and execute the mission. Both are equally important but often the person who is doing the grant-hunting work is a) in America b) not as appreciated/recognized as the person “in the field.” All it takes to be “in the field” is a plane ticket. That does not make it cooler.
Living in a mud hut!
Wow, what a romantic notion to (some) youngins fresh out of college.
If I were really keen to do so, I’m sure I could arrange to go live in a mud-hut somewhere with a rural Malawian family. However, what would that really accomplish? I can pretty much imagine what that might be like:
Exchanging awkward pleasantries as we try to communicate
Wondering if the water/food is safe
Probably having a lot of diarrhea, therefore being dehydrated, therefore feeling weak- my least favorite way to feel
Praying I don’t get malaria
Reading a lot/writing a lot/thinking of home a lot
Wondering what the hell I’m doing there
Maybe learning how to plant corn or something…..something that will probably have little practicality in my life and I would just do it because it would be something to do.
….. and to what avail? Sure, it would be a very memorable, maybe even life-changing experience, and granted I have never done this before. But would I do it just to say that I did it, or because I genuinely wanted to put myself through it? I’m over doing crazy things just to drop it in a conversation and see people’s reactions. That a sign of immaturity. To me, one sign of a naïve traveler is the desire to do things just to impress other people, or to seem badass to others but try to play it off like they don’t care what other people think. Please. I definitely see that in people I have met in the past 6 months and also in my younger self. I’m guilty! But I can’t be annoyed with my younger self; she didn’t know any better. Shit, I’m sure in 5 years I’ll be looking back on my time in Malawi, thinking, “Man, she didn’t know a thing.”
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